Lauren Daley - BookLovers: Lionni is an author to cherish

You see the cover — usually a simple typeface title with the signature blunt cut-paper collage illustrations of the title animal — and you know the book instantly for what is it:

Lauren Daley

You see the cover — usually a simple typeface title with the signature blunt cut-paper collage illustrations of the title animal — and you know the book instantly for what is it:

A Leo Lionni.

Meaning that it's also most likely an award-winner, and most certainly brilliant.

Like Dr. Seuss or Eric Carle, Lionni (1910-1999) was a children's book creator with a style all his own.

The late, great author and illustrator of more than 40 children's books — including Caldecott Award-winning classics "Frederick," "Little Blue and Little Yellow," and "An Extraordinary Egg" — had a uniqueness to him that, as a little kid, I couldn't quite put my finger on:

His works weren't bubbly or cartoonish like Disney or Muppet books. His characters weren't always adorable or happy.

I wouldn't call him dark, but I knew even as a kid that Lionni was not about bubblegum and rainbows. He was about lonely fish; he wrote about crocodiles and inchworms and mice who teach us what it means to be human.

I see now that the Netherlands-born artist's books were provokingly thoughtful, starkly poetic stories — almost edgily so for his target audience: children ages 3 to 8.

Rereading his books recently, I was struck by Lionni's singular gift for writing such poetic kids' tales.

Every kid in the world should own a copy of "Frederick." And "Tillie and the Wall," written before the fall of the Berlin Wall, also carries a wonderful message.

If your kids don't know Lionni, you can introduce them to his work at the Zeiterion's "Just for Kids!" series show, "Swimmy, Frederick and Inch by Inch," on March 16 when his classic books will be brought to life by beautifully crafted puppets. And if your kids know him already, they'll love this.

Lionni was born in the Netherlands in 1910 and spent much of his free time as a child in Amsterdam's museums, teaching himself to draw — which may explain not only his unique illustrations but his penchant for lonely dreamer protagonists.

He married and moved to Italy at age 21 and paid his bills by writing about architecture for a local magazine. He moved to Philadelphia in 1939, and worked as an art director for an ad agency. From 1948 to 1960, he was the art director for Fortune magazine.

His reputation as an artist flourished as he began to exhibit his paintings and drawings in galleries from New York to Japan.

Lionni launched his career as an author/illustrator of books for children in 1959 with "Little Blue and Little Yellow," a strange and beautiful little book that started from the nugget of a tale he told his grandchildren.

In 1960, Lionni moved back to Italy, where he began his long and storied career as a children's book author and illustrator. He produced more than 40 children's books, many of them New York Times editors' picks or bestsellers. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold.

Lionni passed away in 1999 at 89 at his home in Italy, leaving behind a brilliant library of his life's work. Before you see the show, make sure to read the three award-winning books that the show is named for:

"Swimmy" (1964): Deep in the sea there lives a happy school of little fish. Their watery world is full of wonders, but there is also danger, and the little fish are afraid to come out of hiding ... until Swimmy comes along. Swimmy shows his friends how — with ingenuity and teamwork — they can overcome any danger.

"Inch by Inch" (1962): A small green inchworm is proud of his skill at measuring anything — a robin's tail, a flamingo's neck, a toucan's beak. Then one day a nightingale threatens to eat him if he cannot measure the bird's song. Love this.

And my favorite, "Frederick" (1967). While the other field mice work to gather grain and nuts for winter, Frederick sits on a sunny rock by himself. "I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days," he tells them. Another day he gathers "colors," and then "words." And when the food runs out, it is Frederick, the dreamer and poet, whose endless store of supplies warms the hearts of his fellow mice, and feeds their spirits during the darkest winter days.

Tickets are $12. For more information, visit www.zeiterion.org. The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center's box office located at 684 Purchase St., New Bedford.

Lauren Daley is a freelance writer and book columnist. Contact her at ldaley33@gmail.com.

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